Today’s question is from Amanda:
I love all of the freezer cooking posts that you have! However, I’m wondering if you or any of your readers have suggestions for low-carb freezer cooking meals?
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Just a heads up – there are quite a few articles & studies out there that conclude Dreamfield’s Pasta is a scam. I think its too good to be true 🙁
There are a few awesome websites for this! I use Linda Sue’s website, Your Lighter Side, as well as Low Carb Crockpot. All great ideas and recipes that you may have never thought of. I try to eat low carb as well as gluten/wheat free, and my best tip is cook up your meats on one day a week. Some favorites:
– Crock Pot Pulled Chicken (put in crock pot with low carb veggies until chicken pulls apart. Typically 4-5 hours)
– Hamburgers and Meatballs (mix in some low carb veggies! I use a food scale to measure)
– Low Carb Soups (Tons of recipes online! I like to make a Hamburger Soup.)
I also found a store locally that is not only cheap on meat, but also has the chicken, pork, etc, already separated in individual packs. I am surprised since they are cheap, and they did not add the cost of having the prepacked. So, if I am on the go, I can open up one pack of chicken for me and place it in the crock pot. We love it! It’s great because it saves me from having to separate the meats and possibly wasting them because of freezer burn.
This is SOOO great! I have been doing the 4 hour body diet for almost 2 weeks and this gives me some new ideas, some I already knew but just needed reminding. Thanks again!
I often double broccoli & cheese soup and freeze it. My recipe calls for heavy whipping cream, broccoli, beef broth, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese…all low carb 🙂 Thaw & reheat on stovetop.
Great question! I have frozen chicken breast in marinade, then thawed and grilled. It was delicious! I also make hamburger patties (with seasoning) and freeze them. I have a recipe for turkey burgers with half a Babybel cheese round stuffed inside – delicious! The Southwest Roll-up Recipe isn’t too bad on carbs (using a low carb tortilla) depending on how low carb you need. When I’m focusing on eating lower carb, I eat a lot of eggs, but I’ve never found that things that are primarily egg-based freeze too well (although I’m picky and don’t like frozen tasting food).
When it comes to a pasta dish use Dream Fields low carb pasta, it has 5 net carbs per serving. We also make eggplant parmesan, freeze it slightly then cut into individual pieces and freeze those so they are easy to pull out and reheat. We also make all of the freezer burritos on this site but changed it to the low carb tortillas. We serve these meals with salad and 2 veggies to fill up most of the plate and the main meal only takes up 1/4, making it really easy to be low carb. My hubby is T2 and his doctor made these product suggestions for us.
Chicken or beef in marinades is good – use a low carb salad dressing or try one of the recipes at http://lifeasmom.com/2010/04/chicken-in-marinades.html. My entire family (including the toddler) loves the Dijon Chicken.
A great blog with LC recipes and ideas for freezer/easy-prep meals is 24/7 Low Carb Diner (247lowcarbdiner.blogspot DOT com). She has a ton of recipes and tells you how to make pre-cooked and seasoned meat/chicken that you freeze and then just thaw to use in various dishes. Eliminates a lot of prep work.
And LindaSue has lots of freezable dishes at her site (one recipe already linked above):
genaw DOTcom/lowcarb/recipes.
I LOVE this post!!!! We as low carb as we can so I can get pretty creative!
*You can make baked spaghetti or lasagna with squash. Use zucchini and spaghetti squash as substitutes and they freeze fantastically!
*Also if you can thicken with almond meal or another low carb thickener… You can make chicken shepards pie with the alternative thickener and top with mashed butternut or acorn squash, both are super yum and freeze well.
*Cauliflower pizza crust freezes okay, I would say use it within a week or 2, but wrap it extremely well!
*If you purchase Atkins baking mix, it makes pretty decent pancakes and biscuits and they freeze also.
*burgers with ground chicken, spinach and ricotta cheese.
*meatloaf if you can make a good one without a filler (crackers or bread..)
*you can do lots of soups, just use the Dreamland pasta or skip it like I do!
*Things like the low carb wraps or even paleo bread can be a big help in preping for a low carb meal.
*As a side note- have you tried the mason jar salads? I have heard they last a week in the fridge and they could serve as lunch or a dinner.
Hope this helps!
Mason jar salads last 5 days. any more is too long for combining certain ingredients (mushrooms, zucchini, etc)
Lots of recipes here that could easily be converted for freezer meals:
http://www.thestrengthagenda.com/meals/dinner/
Beef & Broccoli, Barbacoa Beef, and BLT chicken salad all come to mind! Also, check out some Gluten-Free websites. Most of those recipes are lo-carb in nature, so you might have better luck searching there.
Be careful with gluten free recipes. If they focus on foods that are naturally low in carbs, that’s fine but substitutions for gluten based foods are not always complex carbs/whole grains. Instead they are often highly refined carbs that have the same effect on blood sugar as white sugar, flour, and rice.
This isn’t necessarily freezer cooking, but it’s simple and easier than freezer cooking (IMHO): frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3-4) and a large jar of your favorite salsa in the slow cooker on low x 6-8 hrs. You can serve it however you like–full chicken breasts with the salsa as a sauce and a bit of shredded cheese on top or shred it and use a low-carb wrap with lettuce, sour cream, etc. For freezer cooking, how about home-prepared soups? Those freeze really well. One soup we like really well is using beef stew meat with veggies (celery, onion, a small bit of carrot), and other veggies (for low carb, the soup would have to be sans carrots, peas, corn, and potatoes)…or french onion soup without the croutons–just with the melted cheese top (though you might be able to find something low carb to substitute on top for the croutons).
I’ve successfully frozen the crockpot chicken and salsa!
Thanks for this post! I will be following! I have Gestational Diabetes and I am trying to bulk up my freezer with some meals, but with no extra effort. So I am trying to double the recipe of what I make now to pop in the freezer. Low carb is a MUST for me right now!
What I have done so far: flourless peanut butter cookies, spaghetti sauce, Chili, Turkey Veg. soup, Beef vegetable soup (could add barley to it after baby comes)
Plan on doing a chicken pot pie filling and after baby comes putting it over some biscuits, taco filling, taco soup, hoping to get some more ideas, too! Good luck!
I’m a nurse & have worked with LOTS of diabetics. For the carbs you do eat, try to do mostly WHOLE grain & beans (WHOLE wheat, not wheat bread, MSM’s refried bean recipe). Brown rice is smarter carb wise than white rice. High fiber helps drop blood sugars. Also, eat lots of raw veggies–raw veggies have more nutrients than frozen or canned, & are high in fiber (zucchini, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, salads, asparagus, peppers, radishes, etc). Raw veggies are the best choice, frozen veggies are the next best choice, & canned veggies are the least nutritional. Berries are lower carb than most fruits. Potatoes & especially corn are very high carb.
Stir fry meat & veggies usually freeze great. Substitute sliced zucchini or egg plant for lasagne noodles in lasagne.
I can attest to the value of whole grains with gestational diabetes. A slice of amazing carrot cake made with fresh ground whole wheat with homemade cream cheese frosting at my baby shower actually kept my blood sugar in the ideal range. While a seemingly safe meal at Red Robin sent my numbers sky high– even with skipping a hamburger bun, eating a salad, and only having a few fries.
I had gestational diabetes with my last baby and did a lot of eggs. In fact it was my breakfast each morning and had a hard boiled one each night. I also ate at least one head of romaine a day and a cucumber. Another of my favorites for a snack was sunflower seeds.
Now for a low carb freezer meal, I’m not sure on the exact carb counts, but it’s based on eggs and turkey bacon.
Ingredients for 12 Muffins
24 Slices Turkey Bacon
4 beaten eggs
2/3 Cup Cottage Cheese
2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Green Pepper Diced
salt
pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Place two places of Turkey Bacon in each muffin tins in an X.
Mix together the eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, green pepper and seasoning
Put a spoonful of mixture in each muffin tin
Fold the bacon strips over the top.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes
You can see the pictures and descriptions over at my blog in the Adventures in Freezer Cooking section.
Also be sure to check out Yummly.com because you can tell how many carbs you want in a recipe.
I don’t have any low-carb freezer ideas but, I do have a question for those who do a lot of food freezing. Does anyone know if cooked spaghetti squash freezes well? Thanks.
Yes! I have frozen it and recooked it and it was great!
Oh, thank you!
Low-carb meatloaf
Chicken mozzarella/parm (use almond meal or another low-carb flour for breading)
Soups
Crustless Quiche
Taco bake (http://www.food.com/recipe/low-carb-taco-bake-119732)
Cut-up cooked chicken or browned ground beef to help with food prep
In general, I usually pre-bake dishes and then thaw and reheat.
-Stuffed chicken breast or pinwheel flank steaks (stuffed with ricotta cheese and any veggies)
-Quiche without crust
– soup
-chili
-stew
Really if you just marinate a lot of meats and freeze them in dinner sizes, then thaw them in the morning and either throw them in the crockpot or on the girll and serve with a side of veggies (either frozen bought or veggies you put together and froze) – that would be the perfect low-carb meal.
http://thethriftywife.com/save-money-diet-meal-program/
Does quiche freeze well? I make my husband a big crustless breakfast quiche every Monday and he heats up a piece before work. It’d be so nice to freeze some before our baby is born so he can still have his quiches but I don’t have to squeeze making them into those first few weeks!
How long do they keep and do you do anything special before freezing them?
Hey,
I have had great success freezing quiches but they were made with pilsbury pie mix mixed-in and another time with some flour mixed in. However, I have also made freezer breakfast sandwiches and the egg part of the sandwich tasted fine. Maybe try experimenting with a muffin-tin sized recipe of your quiche?
I may not be the right person to ask because I am not very picky. My SIL hates anything that comes from the freezer lol
I’ve made mini crust less quiche in muffin tins and froze them and they’ve turned out fine.
I don’t have any suggestions, but I did want to say that I am THRILLED with the post!! I have been looking for the same kind of ideas.
me too!!!
noodless lasagna- http://www.johnsonville.com/recipe/sausage-spinach-faux-lasagna.html
I bought several packages of low carb tortillas and made 3 different meals:
Sausage,egg, and cheese rollups,
Southwest Chicken rollups….with reduced amount of refried beans,
Cream Cheese and Chicken with seasonings…I used Pillsbury’s Crescent Chicken recipe for seasonings.
You could also do beef, spaghetti sauce and mozzerella cheese rollups, frozen chicken, steak, or beef quesadillas with meat, stir fry veggies and seasonings.
A very good book that addresses low carb recipes and a healthy lifestyle is:
Trim Healthy Mama..it’s put out by Above Rubies…a Christian women’s magazine.
Pulled pork, soups.
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/just_like_stuffed_baked_potatoes.html
Cauliflower casserole
Soups, chili, sloppy joe
I don’t think chili is low carb though…unless it doesn’t have beans.
I make my chili with lentils. They may not seem like a low-carb option, but they are low-GI making them very compatible with my diabetic diet.
Crystal’s frozen chicken (with low carb dressing), bbq meatballs (again with low carb bbq sauce), and taco beef are low carb options.